The pandemic has accelerated the growth of e-Learning. And the fast-tracked growth is expected to expand the digital learning opportunities in the upcoming year, 2022 as well!
Online learning now has its place within the educational landscape. And it will continue to serve the students and stakeholders, with or without the pandemic!
India has already embraced this change to online learning. And amidst the threats of the new Covid variant, Omicron, it is impossible to revert to in-person schooling at least in the near future.
So let’s take a closer look at the top E-Learning trends to watch out for in the year 2022:
1. Mobile Applications
As per statistics, education apps ranked amongst the top three categories in the year 2021 (Apple store). This shows the growing demand for mobile applications during the pandemic era. And indeed, these are one of the most convenient ways of accessing high-quality educational content through a device.
Even the number of smartphone users in India has also grown exponentially in the last five years.
<Only 22% of the mobile users used a smartphone back in the year 2016. But this percentage grew to 54% in the year 2020.>
It is believed that learning through educational apps is a booming trend that will continue in the year 2022. Because these educational apps allow students to thrive conveniently in a personalized learning environment.
These striking features are a highlight of the top online schooling platforms. And students enjoy a similar immersive learning experience through these learning apps.
2. Micro Learning for Better Student Engagement
Micro learning is a recent trend that improves the retention of information by breaking the content into smaller parts. It is highly beneficial in this digital age when humans are struggling with a short attention span (around eight seconds). Micro learning filters the information in a manner that shortens the content considerably. It is quite effective to build a student’s conceptual understanding. And simplifies complex information for the students.
This approach is ideal in a virtual learning environment. And top accredited online schools like K8 School incorporate these strategies to engage learners during online learning.
Other than its use to improve the student’s understanding, this approach also helps in recovering the learning loss or academic gaps (such as the ones created during the pandemic). Because it helps students to gain a better understanding. at the same time, it reduces the burden of lengthy topics and complex information pieces.
Post the pandemic, this approach is highly beneficial for Indian students. Because since the last two years most students are facing difficulties in retaining and recalling concepts that were learned before the pandemic.
3. Interactive Game-Based Learning
Gamified learning environment is another trend to watch out for in the year 2022. It is already a credible solution for student engagement. And continues to grow in popularity due to a number of advantages.
Game-like elements fulfill the learning needs of students in an enjoyable learning environment. And it also brings in the much-needed fun element to seamlessly engages the learners. Even the most complex and dull topics can be made interesting with this approach. And with the techniques like scores, rewards, gifts, etc. students keep coming back looking for more.
Gamification certainly improves the student’s motivation to learn. And it is indeed a superb approach to improve the overall content acquisition.
4. Assistive and Adaptive Educational Technologies
Assistive technology creates better learning opportunities for students with disabilities. This supports the goals of universal inclusion. And helps to retain students within the mainstream system. This is one of the best solutions by e-Learning to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Because they can learn freely at their own pace. And make use of the appropriate aid as per their special requirement.
5. Personalized Learning and Pacing Options
Another key trend to watch out for is personalized learning with a self-decided pace. With more and more digital schooling options, students and stakeholders have now experienced the benefits of customized learning. The year 2022 will be student-centric, wherein the focus will be more on the learner’s preference. Personalized learning is a one-stop solution to bridge academic gaps. Because it allows the students the freedom to design student schedules as per their own strengths and weaknesses.
With personalized classes, students can skip content that they have already mastered and devote more time to the topics that they find complex. And ultimately, they develop a sound understanding of the topic. This approach also helps students to decide their own pace of studying. Because all students have different capabilities, and they learn better using their individual learning styles. All in all, personalization is a supportive pillar to improve the academic base of the students.
6. Technological Assessment Methods
E-Learning trends are also replacing traditional assessment patterns. With opportunities for instant feedback, the quality of the teaching and learning processes is bound to improve. In the year 2022, we will witness more advanced systems with lesson wise tests, puzzles, quizzes, and open-ended questions, etc. to gauge the student’s learning. This change will continue to add quality to the teaching and learning process. And with these automated and credible assessment mechanisms, we will be able to track the student’s progress better. Technology helps to identify even the minutest of the learning gaps. And the human touch of the educators helps to track the performance even better.
In India, pioneer virtual schools like K8 School have already created a credible assessment pattern through the use of automated mechanisms. These are further combined with the teacher’s feedback to generate an in-depth performance report.
The Scope of E-learning in India
The last two years have been quite disruptive for the education sector. However, this period has also highlighted the importance of e-Learning like never before!
Back in the year 2019, the global e-Learning market size was estimated at approx. 101 billion U.S dollars. But it is further estimated to reach over 370 billion U.S dollars by the year 2026.
Clearly, the e-Learning trends are here to rule not just in the year 2022, but even after that!
So choose the right platform and make the most of the online learning revolution.
